


Keeper of the Devil Fruits

by chrisymd



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-05-30 10:10:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6419671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrisymd/pseuds/chrisymd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a legend circulating around the world and no one believes it could be true. A legend about someone with the powers of every single Devil Fruit whether it be new or extinct. A legend about someone with the power to destroy the world even when they're just a baby; A Keeper of the Devil Fruits.</p>
<p>Zoro Fan Fiction<br/>I'll switch between people's views and there is swearing (You are forewarned). I suggest that you have either read to chapter 441 or watch to episode 325 before reading this (The Strawhats leaving Water Seven). I'll be including parts only seen in the anime as well (Lovely Island, Spa Island, Etc.) and it contains spoilers.</p>
<p>I don't own One Piece; it belongs to Eiichiro Oda.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Character Information

**Author's Note:**

> Hello People. So I'm putting this story up on AO3. It's also on my Wattpad account (chrisymd) and my fanfiction.net account (chrisymd as well). It contains Arcs that are only seen in the Anime and I've included the Strong World movie in the plot as well (So I suggest watching it).

Kiri D. Kazuto Character Information

Full Name - Kiri D. Kazuto

Goes by - Kiri D. Kaz

Bounty - 1.9 Billion Beri under the name of Grim Reaper (Government doesn't know her name)

Gender - Female but pretends to be male and can actually pull it off (Not flat chested).

Height - 5'9" (175.26 cm)

Age - 19 years old

Appearance - Long hair, which travels to just below her butt, and dark green eyes.

Background - Read if you want to know

Clothing - Baggy clothes with long sleeves, pants and a toque (If you don't know what a toque is then google search it). Places her hair up in the toque and she wraps her chest to make it appear flat but to be extra cautious she wears the baggy upper wear. She also wears a small chain bracelet that has a straw hat, blue top hat, and a small ace of spades card.

Fighting - Prefers hand to hand combat but she can also use some weaponry like double sided daggers, which she uses two of, and if all else fails she can use her power or 'curse' as she refers to it.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So we meet Kaz (of course) who's injured and yeah stuff happens. Mainly Kaz passes out from blood loss to be found by one of Garp's men and Chopper rushes out to help. Luffy decides 'Hey let's take her with us even though she'll totally kill me later about something that I did.'

Keeper Of The Devil Fruits  
~-Chapter 1-~

Kaz  
Shit, I'm not going to make it. Heh sorry guys couldn't keep my promise. Gramps, bros, I hope you achieve your dreams and I'll meet you up there. With this thought travelling through my mind I collapsed to the ground. My hand, now wet, sticky, and a vivid colour of red, was still applying pressure to my wound which was located on my left abdomen. I won't be able to survive this time, I've lost too much. Cough, Cough; some blood came out of my mouth during my coughs and I could feel myself slipping away. Guys I love you; thanks for everything. With that I finally lost consciousness and drifted through a vast black sea.

~~~  
Luffy

"Vice-Admiral Garp Sir; sorry for interrupting your reunion but someone has collapsed on the sidewalk out front and they appear to be severally wounded." One of the lower ranking soldiers saluted to Grandpa.

"Where? Bring me to them. Luffy can I borrow your doctor?" Grandpa asks me. Before I can say anything Chopper grabs his bag and walks through the hole Grandpa had made earlier. I follow suit, curiosity getting the best of me, and the rest of my crew follows. We walk out to the street and Chopper rushes off to where we can see someone lying on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood.

"Help me flip him." Chopper gets some people to flip the guy over and sets off to work on saving the man's life. I take a closer look at the man's face which was hidden behind a toque and send a glance at Grandpa. He also sends me a look and I know what he's thinking because I'm thinking the exact same thing: How and why the hell is Kaz here? After wrapping some of Kaz's wounds Chopper commands us to move her to a bed. I leave it to the rest of the crew and walk over to Grandpa.

"What do you think happened to her?" I whisper to Grandpa and we look to where Chopper was treating Kaz behind a white curtain.

"I'm not sure but with her anything could've happened and judging by her wounds it was a big fight. I'm not sure if she'll make it this time. She always gets into fights but this is the worst I've seen her. When was the last time you saw her?" Grandpa asks.

"Three-four months before Ace left;" I reply.

"Hmm I haven't seen her since the last time I visited you guys; I wonder what she's been doing?" I can tell that wasn't really a question directed to me but to himself and I was wondering the exact same thing. "Hey Luffy can you take her with you if she isn't up and well enough to travel when you leave?"

"Why don't you take her?" I ask Grandpa in surprise since he adores Kaz.

"Idiot," Grandpa hits me on the head and I grab it in pain, "she still hates marines and it won't do her any good to wake up on a marine ship." Grandpa digs around in his pockets until he pulls out a piece of paper that was folded neatly. He partially unfolds it and hands it over to me "You should watch out for that person as well, they've been causing more damage than you have and if you meet them you probably won't come out alive. You can keep that I have another one." I unfold it and I see a picture of Kaz with her hair blowing in the wind. Her hair was vivid red appearing to be covered in blood from her enemies and her green eyes appeared to have a hollow look in them wishing for everything to be over. I look down and notice that the name only states Grim Reaper instead of her real name. I'm guessing they couldn't find out her real name since few know it and it also appears that Grandpa hasn't recognized that it's Kaz either. Finally I look at the bounty; 1.9 billion Beri, it's pretty rare to see a bounty this high. What did she do to get it this high?

~~~  
Zoro

"Since we found that person Luffy and Garp have been whispering over in that corner and Garp just handed him a piece of paper. I wonder what's up." Sanji puffs out a cloud of smoke and looks at us hoping that we had some clue. We shook our heads because we were just as clueless as he was. Garp and Luffy now make their way over to the white curtain where Chopper was patching up the strange man we found. They disappeared behind the curtain and muffled words could be heard. It sounds like they're arguing about something. This was getting more intriguing by the second.

~~~  
Several Days Later  
Luffy

We loaded all our stuff onto the new ship and we also shifted Kaz over to Chopper's new office. She still hasn't woken up since we found her and I've convinced Chopper to keep her gender a secret because I would be murdered otherwise. I feel shivers run down my spine just thinking about what she would do and I hope she doesn't kill me since Chopper knows. Chopper's been keeping me updated on her condition and he says that she's recovering fast. He estimates that she should wake up in a couple of days, three at the minimum but I know better. She'll probably wake up in a couple of hours.

After making sure everything was set we shove off but Grandpa decides to show up and he starts bombarding us with cannonballs. We did our best to deflect them but I notice a few were getting past us and I move to stop them but I know I'm too far. I grit my teeth when the cannonballs get within two feet of the hull and before they hit the cannonballs disappear into thin air. Kaz must be up then I think and I hear Usopp shouting at us. It's killing me to ignore him but Zoro's correct; he has to apologize or else he can't travel with us anymore. I deflect another cannonball when Usopp screams that he's sorry for everything and that he's just a stubborn fool. I lower my head and shoot my arm out for Usopp to grab a hold of. The waterworks start flowing and I can hardly see but when I feel Usopp grab my hand I pull him back to the ship. We sit there crying when something echoes through my head.

'Get out of there, now. Garp's up to something and it won't be fun. Get Franky to use the Coup de Burst and send us flying out of here quickly before it's too late.' Kaz's voice echoes through my head and I look towards Grandpa's ship to see that he is up to something.

"Franky we need to get out of here and fast. Use the Coup de Burst;" I yell at Franky and he gives me a weird look. "Just do it and quickly." I walk over to the railing and wave bye to Grandpa before the ship gets sent flying. This is so cool I think and I stare over the railing to watch the ocean flying by. After getting some fill of the flying scenery I head to the infirmary and expect to see Kaz wide awake but she's still in the same position as before. I wonder is it possible that she helped us while she was still unconscious and even warned me unknowingly. I don't know any more, she's already a freak of nature, for lack of a better term but is she that strong and in control now? I hope to get some answers when she wakes up I think while shaking my head since my brain is starting to hurt from this much thinking.

"FOOD!" I hear Sanji yell and everything I was currently thinking about disappeared as I rushed for the delicious food. The only thing echoing through my head now is how to get more food then I'm supposed to.

~~~  
Kaz

I peel open my eyes to be greeted by a white ceiling. Where the hell am I? Wait hold on. My hand travels down to where my wound is and I feel fresh bandages underneath the shirt I'm wearing. I sit up slowly knowing that if I moved too fast my wound would probably reopen since it still hasn't fully healed yet. I gently pull the shirt up and look at the patch job somebody gave me. It was really well done, a professional must have done this and by my guess a ship's doctor since I can feel rocking caused by waves. I climb out of bed and inspect the clothes I'm wearing. It appears that someone gave me a black Galley-La Company shirt and I'm still wearing my blue jeans. I put my hair up in the toque and slipped on a pair of shoes before throwing on my black sweater from before even though it has a huge hole in it.

I hear a ruckus coming from one of the doors and I quietly creep to the little porthole window. I blink a couple of times to make sure I'm seeing things correctly. Food was flying everywhere and I spot an arm snaking along the table before grabbing some meat from someone else's plate. The arm slingshots back to Luffy who throws the piece of meat into his mouth and this earns him a hit on the head from a blonde. I let out a little sigh since it appears that Luffy's the same as back then, probably worse actually. I rub the bridge of my nose and suddenly I feel eyes on me. I quickly raise my head and spot a pair of onyx eyes staring at me. Those eyes belonged to a man with green hair and three swords located on his right hip. I narrow my eyes at him before quietly slipping out of the other door in the room.

A cold breeze greets me along with the sight of water in every direction. Well I was correct about being on a ship. I quietly maneuver my way towards the main deck and when I pass the kitchen I make sure to keep below the windows. I descend to the lower deck which is surprisingly covered in grass before sneaking up to the crow's nest but instead of going into the nest I climb above it. I spot a pirate flag flowing in the wind and notice it has a straw hat on its head. I look around trying to pinpoint where I'm currently located. I know I was in Water Seven where I passed out in the middle of the street. I have some recollection of being moved a couple of times and I know I used my 'curse' to stop cannonballs from hitting the ship but I don't know why. I don't get it; this was getting on my nerves Grrr what the hell.

"HE'S GONE!!!!!!!!" I hear someone with a high pitched voice scream. I peak over the edge of my resting spot and see seven people standing there staring at a reindeer that was panicking. Wait why was a reindeer panicking? Was he the one who screamed earlier? If so then that must mean he's the one who noticed I was gone. I didn't hear what they said but they dispersed and entered into different doors. Time to get some information about these pirates; I close my eyes and used my 'curse'.

When I opened my eyes I had a collection of items in front of me. There were three swords, a pair of goggles, a lighter, some cigarettes, some cola, a medical book, what appeared to be a journal, a pile of treasure, and a straw hat. I touched each one and got a brief slideshow of images, each item having its own distinct slide show revealing the past of its owner along with personal information like their name. I had just finished going through the straw hat's slide show when I heard screaming from below.

I look below and see that everyone's gathered below again. Each one was freaking out over something. The orange haired girl, who I believed to be Nami, was screaming about treasure; the girl with black hair, Robin, was saying something about her journal; a man with a long nose, Usopp, was going on about his goggles; the blonde with curly eyebrows, Sanji, was screaming at a green haired male about his lighter and cigarettes. In turn the green haired man, Zoro, was screaming about his swords; the man with blue hair, Franky who was also a cyborg, was going on about cola; and the reindeer, Chopper, was running in circles screaming about his medical book. The last one, who had black hair and a red vest on, had burst out laughing, this one just happened to be Luffy the captain of the crew who also was an old friend of mine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah I know Luffy seems kinda smart at one part (Maybe more?), I didn't even notice it 'til someone pointed it out and I totally do not want to rewrite this chapter.


	3. Chapter 2

Keeper Of The Devil Fruits  
~-Chapter 2-~

Zoro

Why is this ship so big? I wondered while trying to figure out where I was. When I find that guy he's getting a beating since he's the reason I'm out here in the first place. After we had just finished supper Chopper went to check on our 'guest' and a couple seconds later we hear him scream. I rushed on deck along with the others to find Chopper running in circles screaming 'He's Gone' over and over again. He quickly told us that when he went to check on the guy he was gone so we split up looking for him since we knew he had to be on the ship. I open a door close to me and find myself in the aquarium bar. I do a quick glance around and not spotting the guy I closed the door while letting out a sigh.

Suddenly I feel that something's wrong and I instantly reach for my swords. My hand closes around air and I try a couple more times before finally looking down to see my swords aren't there. Instead of my swords I see a piece of paper that says I'll be borrowing these for a second and I look around for any clue on who took my swords. I can sense Kintetsu the third and turning in that direction I head off. I end back on the main deck and I can sense that Kintetsu is near.

"Hey Moss Head where's my cigarettes and lighter?" I hear Sanji yell behind me and I turn around glaring at him.

"Oh yeah and where're my swords?" I growl back and we butt heads. We were just about to start fighting when we heard Luffy laughing. I turn to look at Luffy to find him busting a gut while laughing even though his precious hat is missing. That's it Luffy has officially lost it, he's snapped.

"Luffy you know your straw hat's missing, don't you?" Usopp cautiously asks.

"Yeah I know," he knows and he's not freaking out, what the hell? "Can we get our stuff back now?" Luffy yells out and I look around for a clue at who's he yelling at. I don't see anybody but I see a small movement coming from above the crow's nest.

"Hey Robin, can you check if someone's on top of the crow's nest?" I ask her. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. After a couple of seconds she tells me what I was thinking.

"The guy who's injured is up there and he has our stuff. He wrote 'give me a second' on his hand. Give him a second for what?" Robin and I turn to look at the crow's nest. "How did he get up there even? Chopper said he was severely injured and that he probably wouldn't be up for a couple days. He said that he wouldn't be able to move for a day or two after that as well and yet he's on top of the crow's nest."

"He must be tough then," I say with a smirk slipping its way onto my face. If he's strong then that means he could give me a worthy fight. First I need my swords back and I'm curious about the give me a second.

~~~  
Kaz

I hear Luffy yell asking for their stuff back and I peek over the side again. Zoro's looking around and I pull back out of his sight as his eyes skim over the crow's nest but I can sense that he spotted me. To prove my suspicion correct a hand appeared with an eyeball in the palm of it. I quickly scribble something on my hand and hold it out so the eye can read it. I closed my eyes and concentrated. When I reopened them everything that was in front of me before was gone now located on the main deck. I lean over the edge and almost burst out laughing at the expressions the crew now had on their faces since their stuff just appeared in the middle of the deck. Everyone seems happy that there stuffs back where it belongs. Robin looks over to where I'm leaning over the edge and she nods her head slightly. I give her a nod back and everyone disperses again. I assume most of them are to put their stuff away and suddenly I notice movement from the corner of my eye.

I look towards the movement and see Luffy and Zoro talking. Zoro suddenly points this way and Luffy turns to look at the crow's nest. Luffy spots me and gives me a huge smile. Luffy stretches his arm out and grabs part of the crow's nest right beside me. I see Zoro go to walk away but Luffy grabs him and slingshots both of them up. I quickly move outta the way before Luffy can crash into me and I let out a little laugh when Luffy skids along the roof on his face.

"You idiot warn me before doing something stupid like that." Zoro yells at him before smashing him over the head.

"I'm guessing this happens a lot." I say while Zoro sits down and he lets out a huge sigh.

"Yeah; actually it happens way too much." Zoro says shaking his head and Luffy suddenly tackles me.

"You don't know how much I've missed you Kaz and it doesn't help that you didn't even say goodbye when you left." Luffy says hugging me tightly.

"I don't care now let me go." I say hitting Luffy on the head repeatedly when he doesn't let me go. "Fine I'll let you keep hugging me until I've gotta move." I grumble out since I know he won't let me go until he feels like it or I forcibly pull him off and I'm feeling too lazy to peel him off of me.

"I'm guessing that happens a lot to you." Zoro says pointing at Luffy who had a huge grin on his face while hugging me from the side.

"Almost every time I see him after disappearing for a while." I let out a sigh and rub my forehead in annoyance.

"You disappear too much." Luffy says as he tightens his hold on me. "Oh Kaz this is Roronoa Zoro, he's a three-sword style swordsman. Zoro this is Kiri D. Kaz my brother." Luffy says gesturing between me and Zoro.

"Nice to meet you and thanks for caring for the idiot;" I say while doing a small bow.

"It's no problem and nice to meet you too. So you're Luffy's brother; do you act more like Ace or Luffy?" Zoro asks and I let out a little laugh.

"I'm in the middle which is kinda ironic since I'm also the middle child." I let out another small laugh.

"LUFFY, ZORO WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?" A voice rings out and I'm able to determine that it's Usopp's.

"Looks like you should get going since you're missed." I say and Luffy stretches his head out to look over the edge of the crow's nest.

"Come on let's go." Luffy says standing up and grabbing mine and Zoro's wrist.

"Wait what are you doing?" Zoro asks when Luffy wraps an arm around my waist and his before jumping over the edge of the crow's nest. I land softly on the deck feet first and let out an annoyed sigh when I spot Luffy lying on the deck along with Zoro. It appears they landed on their faces and I lightly kick them to see if they're still alive.

"You still alive?" I question them and I see them start to twitch. I watch in amusement when Zoro stands up and beats the crap out of Luffy.

"What did I say before you idiot? Warn me next time." Zoro says before letting out an annoyed growl and sitting down. I walk over to the bench on the main mast and sit down. Luffy stands up and rushes back over to me but before he can hug me again I kick him.

"No more hugs you dipshit." I say kicking Luffy again when he tries to hug me a second time and he backs away giving me a pouty face. "No means no; by the way thanks. I'm pretty sure my wounds reopened because of you."

"It did; that's a surprise usually it would've been healed by now." Luffy says tilting his head in confusion.

"You idiot those wounds were simple ones; I practically got gutted this time." I growl out and Luffy looks even more confused.

"But you were almost gutted lot's of times when we were younger and they healed pretty quickly. I also remember one time when you were covered in wounds head to toe and yet you were still moving around perfectly fine even though you coughed up blood a couple of times." Luffy says still confused.

"Wow you actually remembered that stuff and I couldn't heal as quickly this time because something's stuck in my wound." I say while lightly placing my hand on my wound. "Hey reindeer you're the doctor right?" I ask Chopper and he just nods while trying to hide behind Nami. "Can I borrow your equipment for a bit and maybe some of your expertise?" I ask Chopper and he slowly nods his head.

"Sure follow me please;" Chopper says while getting out from behind Nami and heading towards the infirmary. I lightly jog after Chopper and Luffy runs after me.

"You're a very skilled doctor." I say when I follow Chopper into his office.

"Huh you can tell?" Chopper asks surprised and I let out a little laugh.

"Yeah I've seen many patch jobs and so far yours is the best." I say while taking a seat on the bed in the room. "Okay so I've got a piece of shrapnel wedged in the middle of my back and it is a couple millimeters from destroying my nerves to my lower body." I say while taking off my sweater and the black Galley-La Company shirt before taking my wrappings off since they'll just get in the way. I lay down on my stomach on the bed and point to the spot the shrapnel is wedged.

"How did I miss that?" Chopper asks himself before setting off to work. I feel Chopper working away and I let out a hiss of pain when he applies the antibiotics to my back. I let out another hiss of pain when Chopper applies the bandages since they had to be wrapped tightly.

"All done;" Chopper says and I slowly sit up. I let out a hiss when the skin on my back stretches the wrong way and I look over to Luffy who was blocking the window between the kitchen and the infirmary. I gently put my wrappings back on and when I slid the shirt on I spoke.

"Hey Luffy..."

"Don't worry the only one, besides me, who knows you're a girl is Chopper here." Chopper gives a little wave before he finishes cleaning his equipment.

"Thanks." I say with a sigh leaving my lips. "By the way whose shirt is this?" I point to the black Galley-La Company shirt before I throw my sweater back on.

"No problem; we don't need another person for Sanji to fawn over and I know that you would've murdered me in seconds if I did reveal it. That's the shirt Zoro got back on Water Seven." I give Luffy a small smile and mentally make a note to thank Zoro for lending me his shirt.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaz agrees to stay with the crew until Fishman Island and we get some of her background information. We enter into the start of the Lovely Land Arc.

Kaz

"Your wound heals extremely quickly." Chopper says after he finishes putting everything away and I let out a little laugh.  
"It's normal for me. Am I allowed to leave then?" I ask Chopper and he nods.  
"Come on let's introduce you to the rest of the crew." Luffy says dragging me away and Chopper follows behind us slowly. "Hey guys time for introductions. Everyone this is my brother Kiri D. Kaz and he'll be travelling with us until Fishman Island. Kaz this is my crew." Luffy goes through and introduces me to each crew member.  
"It's nice to meet you and thanks for taking care of Luffy." I give them a small bow and they just say it's no problem. "Hey Luffy I never said anything about travelling with you guys 'til Fishman Island." I send the rubbery brat a glare and he just gives me a huge smile.  
"You're staying with us 'til Fishman Island and no objections. You still owe me a favor from when I saved you from that gator all those years ago." Luffy says crossing his arms.  
"You idiot it's the other way. I had to save your butt from being gator food but fine I'll humor you this time. Only this one time though and as soon as we hit Fishman Island I'm completely disappearing off the face of the world. You won't be able to find me after that unless I choose to be found or I make contact with you." I say and Luffy just gives me a small nod but his face has a frown on it so I know he isn't too keen on me disappearing.  
"Come on I'll give you a tour of the ship and show you to your room." Luffy says dragging me away and I give the others a small wave as they look at me with sympathy in their eyes. I map out the layout of the Thousands Sunny while Luffy keeps dragging me around. "Okay Kaz for lodgings we can either have you sleep in the men's quarters, women's quarters, or there's a guest room. You get to choose where you're going to sleep." Luffy says looking back at me and I start thinking.  
"I guess I'll take the guest room but I might not actually sleep in it." I say and Luffy drags me off to the guest room. He gives me a quick tour of it before he drags me back onto the main deck. I somehow manage to sneak away from Luffy and I slip up to the crow's nest. I gently lay down on my back before slipping into sleep.  
\---  
I was six years old and sat there at the table eating lunch with my mom. When I was just a baby my dad died from an incurable disease so for as long as I can remember it's just been me and mom.  
"Listen my little angel remember what I told you yesterday. You can't tell others about our family history or the curse this family holds. Only tell those who you know you can trust with your life and never use this curse for evil. Trust your instincts and remember everything I've taught you. Never forget it and grow to become a strong independent girl. Here this is something you should hold onto; it contains everything I was unable to teach you and more information on this curse. Add to it as you learn and when the time comes pass it onto your daughter who will obtain this curse." My mom hands me a worn out journal which I can tell is really old. "Now finish your meal and pack everything you need. You have 'til supper; that's when they'll show up. You need to get out of here before then. If the marines find you it'll be hell; they'll treat you as a lab rat. Now go; remember I'll always love you and I'll be with you always in here." My mom puts her hand over my heart and kisses my forehead before shooing me away to pack.  
I ran up the stairs and quickly finished packing a small backpack. I had placed a couple pairs of cloths, some toques, food and water. I placed the family journal into a waterproof bag and slipped it into the bottom of the bag for safe keeping. I slip the bag over my shoulders and head downstairs to say my goodbye.  
"Mom I'm done." I call out to my mom when I reach the bottom of the stairs.  
"Here are some sandwiches to eat on the way and remember to hide your gender. The government has figured out that only girls in this family can obtain this retched curse. If they don't know you're a girl then they can't connect the dots. Now go they're almost here." Mom gives me one last hug and shoos me out the door. I run off towards the nearby woods knowing exactly what to do since mom made sure I knew what to do many times. I reach the tree line and notice the sounds of footsteps so I hide in a nearby bush. A huge group of marines and men in black suits come around the corner meeting mom who now stood in the middle of the path. After some discussion a man pulls out a gun and shoots mom right in the forehead.  
"MOOOMMM!!" I screamed and as soon as the words left my mouth I cursed myself for my huge mistake. I cover my mouth and sprint off into the woods. Yelling comes from behind me and I hear the sounds of people chasing behind me. I take out any marine group that is smaller than five. I change my directions to avoid those larger groups and I end up bursting out of the woods. Damn this isn't good they ended up forcing me to the cliff. I turn around and notice that every single marine was coming out of the woods behind me.  
I was surrounded with no way to escape. The marines were stepping closer and closer to me. I took a step back and the ground crumbled almost causing me to almost fall over the edge of the cliff. A cliff to my back and marines to my front; I would rather die than end up as a test subject to those damn government fools. I finally made my decision and without further ado I take a step back allowing gravity to pull my body down to the crashing waves below. I see the marines were all gathered at the cliffs edge staring at me in shock. I bet they didn't think that I was going to choose death and I flipped them the finger as I plummet to my demise. I hate you damn government dogs and allowed fate to take over. Leaving it to decide whether I was going to live or die here and I lost consciousness as my body smashed into the waves at the base of the cliff.  
\---  
I jerk up and feel sweat coating my body from the horrible memory. I push the palms of my hands into my eyes to try to quit the tears that were starting to well up and pull out the old worn out journal. Damn it why did I have to remember that. Of all the things I could've remembered why did I have to remember that and why now? I lie down and place the journal back in its hiding spot before curling up. Closing my eyes I slipped back into sleep with the hope of a better dream.

~~~  
Zoro

I hear a little whimper coming from above me as I train in the crow's nest. I place my dumbbells away before leaning out the window in hopes of determining what the sound was coming from. I hear some gasping and I slowly climb outta the window. I climb up to the roof and find Kaz sitting there with his palms pressed into his eyes. I take a closer look at him and notice that his eyes appear to be watery. Is he crying? Kaz pulls out an old worn out journal and I see his eyes watering a bit more. He wipes the beginning tears away and lies down before placing the journal away. I can't tell where he put it and before I can say anything Kaz turns on his side away from me. He curls up and I hear his breath even out which indicates that he fell asleep. That was weird I thought as I slid back into the crow's nest to continue training. I'll ask him about it later when we're alone.

~~~  
Several Days Later  
Kaz

I was sitting in the Aquarium Bar with Robin, Franky, and Sanji just casually talking away. Over the past few days I've been on this ship I've really come to love this crew. Even though I hate to admit it I think I've come to care about some more than others, I take a quick peak up towards the crow's nest where Zoro was currently training. All he does is train though and I think he still doesn't fully trust me. I feel a small frown cover my face but I quickly shake it off before hearing a splash. I turn to the aquarium and find a brand new shark chasing all the other fish around. Next thing I know Luffy and Usopp burst through the door asking us if we've seen the shark they just caught and I just let out a huge sigh.  
"It doesn't get along well with the other fish though." Robin points out and I face palm. I quietly slip out of the room and start climbing up the main mast to the crow's nest. I've kinda just claimed the top of the crow's nest as mine even though Luffy made sure the guest room was mine. I grab a hold of a small ledge located on the side of the crow's nest and start climbing towards the roof.  
"You know there's an easier way to get to the roof." A voice says beside me and I almost let go of the ledge in shock. I send a glare at the green haired swordsman who was leaning on the window sill with an amused expression on his face.  
"Don't do that and yes I know there's an easier way. I just prefer this way;" I say and Zoro just raises an eyebrow. "It helps to keep my senses sharp and it also helps strengthen my arm strength." I keep glaring at Zoro and he starts to glare back. We stay like that for a bit just glaring back and forth until Zoro speaks again.  
"It doesn't seem to be working too well." Zoro says and I narrow my eyes at him before continuing on my path. I hear Zoro chuckle and I go to kick him when my foot's level with the window but he easily dodged it. I pull myself onto the roof and flop down face first. I hate to admit it but he's correct; I'm not as sharp as I used to be or I just can't seem to sense him which I highly doubt since that's never happened before. I'm pretty sure that I'm losing my touch since I've almost been discovered while taking a bath or shower. I've been in the shower and I notice footsteps heading towards the door. I somehow manage to get my clothes and get out of there every time without being spotted though which is considerably lucky for me.  
I flip onto my back before rubbing the bridge of my nose and I notice something white floating down from the sky. It gently lands on my nose before melting and I feel a smile slide its way onto my face. I let out a small laugh and I hear shouting from below.  
"You're a horrible lookout Zoro. If it starts snowing you have to tell us like this." Luffy points to Usopp and he demonstrates how you tell the crew it's snowing. I let out another small laugh and I can hear Zoro grumble about those two idiots.  
"Hey Kaz why don't you come inside you'll get a cold otherwise." I jump a bit and turn my head over to where Zoro was looking at me from.  
"I'm fine;" I say and suddenly I feel a tickle in my nose. "A-a-a-achoo." I let out a small sneeze and I hear Zoro chuckle.  
"See told you and you sneeze like a girl." Zoro says and I glare at him before standing up.  
"You're not going to get away with that comment." I roll up my sleeves and Zoro gains a smirk.  
"Let's see what you've got then...that's if you aren't scared of being beaten horribly." I let out a huge growl and Zoro smirks again before ducking back into the crow's nest. I slide off the edge of the nest and into the window to find Zoro already standing in a fighting position. Zoro has his swords set off the side and his fists are raised. "Let's do this with just our fist even though it won't matter." I let out another growl and charge at Zoro. I dodge a punch Zoro throws at me and slip inside his defences. I see an 'oh shit' look on his face just before my fist hits the bottom of his jaw.  
"What was that you said earlier? Oh yeah, something about horribly beating me;" I say and send a glare at Zoro who was now flat on his ass. I see a look of surprise on his face before he quickly turns it into a glare.  
"This isn't over yet you." Zoro says and he grabs his swords. He keeps then sheathed and charges at me. I dodge the swipes and a couple of them almost hit me but I somehow manage to dodge them at the last second. I drop under one of his attacks and sweep his legs out from underneath him. I quickly disarm him before he hits the ground and I pin him down. I'm practically straddling him and I have his arms pinned to the side preventing him from moving.  
"I think this is over now." I whisper into Zoro's ears and I feel him trying to pull himself free from my grip but I have a tight hold on him. "I told you you'd pay for that earlier comment." I whisper into his ear again and he lets out another growl. I slide off of Zoro and notice his face is bright red, from anger or embarrassment I don't know. I take a quick look out the window and spot a banged up ship floating ahead of us. "Hey lookout you aren't doing a very good job." I say as Zoro stands up. He lightly dusts off his clothes before moving beside me to look out the window. Zoro's eyes widen and he quickly moves over to the transponder snail for the P.A. system.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of the Lovely Land Arc.

Kaz

"Hey guys I see a ship." Zoro says into the snail and then we head down to the deck. We gather on the right side and I spot the banged up ship from earlier. It's in pretty bad shape and it appears they don't have any sails.  
"I've heard stories of a strange game between pirates called a Davy Back Fight where you can steal other people's crew or even their flag." Franky says and I take a closer look at the ship trying to determine if it was in a Davy Back Fight but it appears to be too banged up to be a Davy Back Fight.  
"We know;" the whole crew says and I spot three guys who just started fishing off the side. At Luffy's orders we pull up beside them and Luffy calmly yells at them. The men start running around in panic until deciding to just surrender.  
"We surrender; spare our lives." They call out and I just stare at them blankly. That's just weird I think as Luffy boards the other ship where he ends up inviting the men over for supper.  
"Sanji food;" Luffy calls out and Sanji walks out of the kitchen.  
"It'll be a while still so why don't you check them out for injuries Chopper?" Sanji asks Chopper and he nods.  
"If there's anyone who's injured come with me." He calls out and the shortest one besides the kid starts to freak out about the pet speaking. "I'm not a pet, I'm a pirate. You got that I'm a pirate with a bounty of fifty beri." Chopper yells before getting really disheartened about his bounty and I slipped into the kitchen while the others are occupied.  
"Luffy get out of here; the food isn't ready yet." Sanji says without even turning around. I just let out a sigh before speaking.  
"You don't have to make me any food. I'm not hungry." I say while I grab a bottle of sake from the fridge and I make my way back to the kitchen door. I raise the hand with the sake and give Sanji a small wave before completely walking out of the kitchen. I quietly slip into the library and place my sake down on the table before pulling out the worn out journal. I get in a comfortable position before taking a swig of sake and flipping the journal open to a marked page. I sense Chopper moving over to the other ship and below the deck; I wonder what he's doing. What he does is his own business I think before returning to the journal.

~~~  
Zoro

I was sitting in the kitchen fighting to keep Luffy from stealing my food while gobbling down my food. I haven't had time to talk to Kaz about what I saw on that first day and every time I found myself even near Kaz we were never alone. I'd ask him about it then but I don't think he'd be too keen on explaining it to everyone. Hell I don't even know if he'll explain it to me but I'm going to force him too, especially if it'll endanger the crew. I finish off my plate and empty the rest of my mug of sake.  
"Hey moss head since you're done take this to Kaz; I think he's in the library. Even though he said he wasn't hungry earlier I can tell he hasn't eaten in a while. Now take this and go" Sanji said and before I can object he places the plate in my hands. I just stare at him and Sanji lets out a sigh. "I'll give you a bottle of sake if you go and make sure he actually eats it." With that I was on my way to the library with the plate of food and I was a little bit grateful to the love cook since this gives me an opportunity to talk to Kaz alone but then again why'd he choose me of all people.

~~~  
Kaz

I close the journal when I hear footsteps outside and quickly I slide the journal inside another book before looking at the door. A second later Zoro pushes open the door with a plate of food in his hands which he sets down in front of me.  
"This is from curly brow and you've gotta eat it." Zoro says before sitting across from me and I just kept glancing between Zoro and the plate.  
"I'm ..." I start off but Zoro quickly cuts me off as my tummy lets out a quiet rumble.  
"Don't say you're not hungry because I can tell you are and you're stomach just agreed with me." He said as my stomach let out another hungry growl this time louder. I let out a grumble and just shrug my shoulders.  
"Well I'm not going to be eating any time soon so you might as well just leave." I say turning back to the book I stored the journal in.  
"If you don't eat it then I don't get my sake." Zoro says and I just raise a brow as I turn to look back at him. "Curly brow told me that if I bring you food and make sure you eat it I get some sake." I let out a little sigh and toss him the bottle of sake that I had sitting beside me.  
"Will this satisfy you?" I say and I turn back to my journal.  
"Thanks but I'm not leaving 'til you eat it." Zoro says and he takes a swig of the sake.  
"Stubborn aren't you?" I ask him and he lets out a little chuckle.  
"Coming from the one who doesn't want to eat even though his stomach is telling him to;" he says and I let out an annoyed sigh before we slip into silence. I start reading the journal again but this time I kept an eye on Zoro so he wouldn't scare the crap out of me. Something in the journal catches my attention and it pulls my full attention into it. I reread it over and over to make sure I've read it correctly but it appears so.  
"What're you looking at that's so interesting?" A voice whispers into my ear and I jump in shock.  
"Shit you scared me to death there." I say holding my hand over my heart and glaring at the swordsman who was still looking over my shoulder. "It's none of your business;" I say while quickly closing the book and journal.  
"I guess and anyway I have something I want to ask you." Zoro says and I hum to indicate for him to go on. "On the first day you were awake. I saw you on top of the crow's nest with tears in your eyes." Zoro asks and I freeze up before looking at him in surprise. "What was that about and why did you gain more tears when you pulled out this old journal?" Zoro asks holding up the journal I was just looking at.  
"How'd you get that?" I ask after looking in the book I just thought I hide the journal in and I send him a glare when I find it's not there.  
"I just grabbed it when you jumped to the roof and answer me; also eat your food." Zoro says while still holding the journal. I send him a glare before devouring the food on the plate which was surprisingly still warm. "Good now answer my earlier questions." Zoro says sitting down across from me again.  
"Fine, I was asleep before you saw me and an old memory surfaced in my dreams. It was a sad memory that's tied to that book." I say pointing at the book in his hand before holding my hand out for him to give me back my book.  
"I want some more information." He says and I looked at him annoyed.  
"If you're worried about me endangering this crew then don't. I'm not going to do anything to destroy Luffy's crew and if you absolutely must know I remembered my mother's death now may I have the journal back." I growled out and felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes. I blink a couple of times in hopes of pushing back the tears but they just seem to not want to disappear and I see shock cover Zoro's face. I turn my head away and cover my eyes with my hands while pressing my palms into my eyes in hopes of pushing back the tears.  
"Not now you stupid tears; sorry can you just leave me alone." I say while willing my voice not to break but it decides not to obey and my voice breaks a couple times in that single sentence.  
"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have pried." Zoro said and I feel him pull me up before wrapping his arms around me. "I'm only doing this once since I caused this so don't go expecting this ever again." Zoro says and I freeze up in shock before gently relaxing into the hug.  
"No it's okay, you didn't know I'd react this way and you were worried about the safety of the crew. It's understandable and I'm fine now." I say before slipping out of Zoro's grasp and stealing back my journal. I sit down and gently wipe my eyes trying to rid my face of any evidence that I was crying. "If you tell anyone that I was crying you're dead." I send a warning glare at Zoro and I see him nod before running out of the room in fear with the plate.  
I turn my attention back to the journal but I find that my mind kept wondering back to earlier and how Zoro acted. I close the journal and slip it in a safe place on me before staring out of the window. Why would Zoro act that way? Even though I ended up crying because of him I didn't peg him as someone who would hug too often. I rub my forehead in annoyance and decide to get some fresh air. I slip out the door to find Franky, Robin, and Sanji confronting the other group about who they really are. Three of them rush at Sanji, Robin, and Franky but the leader, I think his name was Stonsen, stopped them by smashing the one guy's face into the deck.  
"RETREAT;" Stonsen yells and they rush over to the edge of the ship. They all jump over board and retreat to their ship.  
"Leave them Franky. We have more important things to worry about than them, I can't find Chopper anywhere." Nami says while stopping Franky from shooting them. I slip away when the others weren't looking and jumped overboard using my curse to silence the sound of the splash I created. I silently swim through the water towards the other ship and pull myself up onto the deck outta view of the others. I take a couple of sniffs and follow Chopper's scent trail which leads me deeper and deeper into the ship. I have stronger senses which can really come in handy sometimes. I enter into a small room and see Chopper, the kid from before, and a horribly injured man with red hair.  
"Whoa, help me hold him down Jiro." Chopper tells the kid, Jiro, when the ship starts moving all of a sudden.  
"Just let me handle this." I sit down beside the bed and concentrate. I create an area around the man which absorbs all the vibrations and prevents his wounds from reopening.  
"Who are you and how did you find this place?" Jiro grabs a broom that's nearby and points it at me.  
"Jiro calm down, he's a friend." Chopper pushes the broom handle down and then turns to me. "How did you find us?"  
"I just followed your scent. I've got a strong sense of smell." I tap my nose and shift so my backs resting in the corner where the bed meets the wall. "Any way the others think these guys kidnapped you since they can't find you and we know these guys lied earlier."  
"Huh? I have to stay here and treat this man though." Chopper looks at me for help.  
"When they show up just tell Luffy about this guy. Luffy will understand now I'm going to sleep. Don't worry this thing will stay up until I take it down. Even if I lose consciousness it won't go down." I put my arms behind my head and drift off into another uneasy sleep.


End file.
